Is Master of None a Louie for Millennials?

In the new Netflix sitcom Master of None, Aziz Ansari plays Dev, a working actor in his early 30s who’s constantly fretting over seemingly innocuous questions: Who do I take to this weekend’s sold-out concert? Where can I get the best taco in the city? Why does my dad want to hang out with me so much?

At first glance, you might think Ansari is simply rehashing the materialistic shtick he perfected while playing Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation. But Master of None and its leading man are far from superficial. In fact, Ansari’s new show is insightful, thought-provoking, and also one of the funniest comedies of the year.

The series has drawn a lot of comparisons to Louie. They are both deeply personal projects that explore the human condition through humor. But while Louis C.K.’s outlook is misanthropic and brimming with Generation X cynicism, Ansari’s take on the modern world is full of millennial optimism and feel-good self-indulgence.

Our infatuation with foodie culture, for instance, is on full display. Instead of plain coffee, Dev likes to drink a cortado. (Could you ever imagine Louie ordering that with a straight face?) In the morning, he uses his stainless-steel juice press to make fresh-squeezed orange juice. One night, he hooks up with a dream girl (played by Claire Danes), who also happens to be a well-respected food critic.

There are plenty of vintage quirks to satisfy the millennial obsession with nostalgia, too. Master of None’s title credits recall Woody Allen’s old-school intro sequences. The soundtrack includes songs by Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Cash, and David McCallum. Dev even wakes up to a wooden flip alarm clock from the ’70s.

But beneath all that lightheartedness, Master of None tackles heavier subject material, such as racism, infidelity, and the constant harassment women face. In the episode “Indians on TV,” Dev loses a part in a sitcom because a producer is hesitant to cast two Indian actors on the same show. In “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Dev and his new girlfriend compare the drastically different types of comments they receive on Instagram after they both post the exact same photo of a frittata.

Master of None has such a diverse cast, the white guy is actually the minority in Dev’s circle of friends. Dev’s clique includes Asian-American Brian (Kelvin Yu); fellow Indian actor Ravi (Ravi Patel); and Denice (Lena Waithe), an African-American lesbian (who is by far the coolest person on the show). As for the funniest supporting character, that honor goes to Dev’s dad, played by Ansari’s real-life father, Shoukath Ansari, who manages to steal every scene he’s in. (It quickly becomes obvious where Ansari learned a thing or two about comedic timing.)

The biggest theme of the show—which is also a constant in Ansari’s stand-up—is how does one deal with the overwhelming amount of choices in today’s app-ridden world? For Dev, there are just too many restaurants to order from, too many career paths to consider, too many women who could be The One. With Master of None, Ansari has at least made the choice of what to watch on Netflix an easy one.